This apartment complex on Dolores Street had enough leaflets for everyone. New legislation proposed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors may limit the leafleting on front doors and gates in San Francisco, Calif. Monday January 24, 2011.

San Francisco officials hope to combat litter and the ire of some residents by imposing new rules on the distribution of flyers on private property.

"Many residents in my district and throughout the city have come to me with concerns over the large amount of litter that ends up in our neighborhoods generated by flyers," said Board of Supervisors PresidentDavid Chiu, who is sponsoring the legislative crackdown.

The flyers, tucked in metal security gates, dropped on doormats and left in lobbies, typically advertise neighborhood restaurants - looking for a relatively inexpensive way to let people know they exist. But there also are flyers for housecleaning services, painters, fortunetellers and, during campaign season, ballot measures and candidates.

Sam Naser, manager of Galaxcy Pizza on Golden Gate Avenue, said his restaurant occasionally sends out workers to place flyers at neighborhood homes. He doesn't oppose Chiu's proposal as long as he still has a legal way to hand out the flyers. "It's a cheap way to get word out. Every little thing helps."

While property owners are responsible for cleaning up garbage on the sidewalks in front of their premises, the wind whips the paper advertisements from property to property, into shrubs and into the gutters.

The proposal would not ban the flyers - that wouldn't be allowed under the First Amendment. Instead, it would require the distributors to make sure they are attached in such a way so that they can't be blown into the street by the wind and won't damage the property.

It also would forbid flyers from being left on properties that are posted with a conspicuous "No Handbills" signs in a 30-point or larger font.

And finally, it would transfer the regulatory authority from the Police Department, which now has jurisdiction over the current, less stringent handbill rules and move it to the Department of Public Works. Breaking the rules no longer would be a criminal matter but would become an administrative one. City officials couldn't recall a time that the cops were called out to investigate cases of improperly distributed flyers, let alone prosecutors trying to nail the offenders.

"The district attorney's office really doesn't have handbill litter as a high priority on their list," said Grace Moore, a public works program manager who helped craft the proposed change.

Offenders could be hit with a $100 fine for each violation after the city issues several warnings.

Dawn Trennert, chair of the Middle Polk Neighborhood Association and a task force member, said, "Our neighbors were fed up with the extreme litter in our neighborhood, the flying litter, the litter that easily can be taken care of if we just think about things a little differently."